How schools can keep up with ISI’s new inspection framework for wellbeing and how Orah fits into it

The past few years have highlighted wellbeing as a major concern for schools and in response, the ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate UK) are updating their policies/frameworks.

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The changes  are to come into effect in September 2023 and are expected to be more in line with the Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022 guidelines and schools all over the UK are trying to ensure they can keep up with the added pressures.

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The first step in implementing the framework is to ensure that all staff are aware of the five key areas of wellbeing that it focuses on: health and safety, personal development, behaviour and welfare, suitability of education, and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Staff should be trained in the framework, and they should understand the role they play in promoting and safeguarding the wellbeing of children.

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Another important aspect of implementation is the development of policies and procedures that reflect the principles of the framework. This could include policies on attendance, safeguarding, and child protection, as well as procedures for responding to incidents of abuse or neglect. These policies and procedures should be reviewed and updated regularly, and they should be communicated to all staff, students, and parents.

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Lastly, the students/pupils play a vital role in the framework which states they should have a voice in the design and delivery of the guidelines made within your school. This not only helps to ensure that the policies within a school are mutually agreed upon - it also helps to build a wider culture of safeguarding and child protection within the school. 

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Orah’s product suite is focused on helping schools understand the health and safety of their children holistically, therefore providing schools the opportunity to implement and measure their effectiveness in relation to this framework so you can continuously review and improve performance. 

How Orah helps schools to measure their performance in relation to the "Keeping Children Safe In Education 2022" framework

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We did a deep dive into the framework to identify areas that Orah can help with immediately. 

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Specifically the following areas stand out:

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1. Recognition of potential signs of abuse or neglect: Staff should be aware of the signs of abuse or neglect and understand the importance of reporting any concerns to the designated safeguarding lead.

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Through the use of Nurture - schools can understand mental health patterns across the student population and get notifications for any concerning patterns. This allows schools to intervene and get ahead of any potential issues.

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2. Cooperation with investigations: Staff should cooperate with any safeguarding investigations and assist in gathering relevant information.

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All of Orah’s products offer the ability for schools to store student records in a safe and easily accessible way.

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3. Confidentiality: Staff should maintain confidentiality in relation to safeguarding concerns, only sharing information with those who need to know on a need-to-know basis.

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Unlike many systems, Orah has granular staff permissions that can be assigned to all staff roles within your community, this way only certain people can access the wellbeing information of your students. You can also make specific records private/sensitive to add another layer of confidentiality.

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4. Student’s involvement over the policies:

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Orah allows students to have a voice and share how they’re feeling with the school in order to give live feedback that schools can collect and take action on.

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5. Recognition of attendance inconsistencies and changes in behaviour

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Orah’s SUPERVISE product is a light weight and super easy to use attendance product which integrates with UNIFY to also helps schools to quickly follow up and be alerted to changes/concerns with a student’s attendance patterns.

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6. Holistic student wellbeing visibility.

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Orah’s UNIFY product integrates with your core MIS (iSAMS, SIMS, ENGAGE etc.) and your LMS (firefly, schoology, canvas) plus provides wellbeing insights to report on the information required to understand the 5 Main areas of student wellbeing as mentioned above.

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In conclusion, implementing the "Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022" framework and getting ahead of the ISI’s standards effectively requires a commitment from everyone in the school community. By working together, and by focusing on the five key areas of wellbeing, schools can create a safe and supportive environment for the children in their care, and they can help to promote their wellbeing and keep them safe.

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If you’d like to speak with someone from Orah and learn how our products can help you to implement and measure your school’s effectiveness in relation to the new standards, please click here to organise a product walk-through or trial it for free.

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